Forget Shakespeare, Tolstoy and Tolkein - welcome to the fictional world of Mr Windows. Automated writing software is taking off so quickly in some areas of publishing that the humble human author could soon be replaced by a robot capable of dashing out flash fiction, poetry and novels in a fraction of the time.
Journalists could be similarly doomed, and the news desk could soon become an even less emotional place. But does anyone actually want to read a newspaper or a novel written by a robot?
Whether or not writers like it, automated writing is coming. Machine translation software is already common and financial reporting is next.
One such piece of software is Narrative Science's Quill, which automatically transforms structured data into plain English stories indistinguishable from those generated by humans, and at an unprecedented speed and scale. "Quill's power lies in the fact that it is a synthesis of data analytics, artificial intelligence and editorial expertise," says Kris Hammond, chief technology operator at Narrative Science. As well as an ability to describe, predict and advise based purely on data, Quill has artificial intelligence in the form of a "natural language engine".
As with any software, Quill is based on algorithmic analysis, though its secret weapon isn't artificial intelligence, but instead a patent-protected use of journalistic "angles". It's that which brings it an ability to make distinctions between situations and have a nuanced approach to generating news.
For now at least, we're talking about highly structured, financial news that's written purely to inform - not to entertain. "The only limit on the technology is that Quill can only generate language where there is data to begin with," says Hammond. "While this could, in theory, include textbooks and novels, it is doubtful we will see the technology applied to those problems in the near term. It does, however, already send out Tweets during sporting events."